The 'Right' Side of Education

The violation of a child's Right to Education often goes unnoticed. I call it an 'invisible offence' because we may not be able to identify its immediate or visible impact on the students. It may either manifest in ways that we may not link to the violation or it may only be felt in the long-run. This makes it easier for stakeholders like the school, regulatory authorities, the government and even parents to compromise and exploit in order to suit their own agenda.

In 2002 with the 86th Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution, Education became a Fundamental Right for children between 6 and 14 years of age. However, it was only in 2010 that the enforcement of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE) defined its scope and how children could enjoy it. The Act spelt out the minimum standards required by different stakeholders to ensure a child received an education that will add value to his life. It took into consideration our cultural, political and economic diversity while staying aligned with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. Even then, the Act has been criticised for many reasons.

I started working in Child Protection only a few months before the Act was enforced. However, I belong to a family of educators and have grown up in a school environment. I have seen teachers and school leaders educate generations of children in a manner that their students are extremely grateful for even today. I too studied in a school that provided an education par excellence. There was no law but the system was bound together by inherent discipline, accountability, duty, responsibility and most importantly a commitment towards nurturing students. Having said that, its reach was limited and only a privileged few had access to this standard of education. India needed a constitutional provision that would ensure that it became a national priority and reached even the least privileged in the most remote corner of the country. The provisions of the RTE Act are minimum standards of operation for schools across the nation. Any compromise in these, by default, would be a compromise in the education provided to the child and would make it counter-productive. Today,15 years after its enactment, whether we have achieved these standards or not is debatable? Have we moved forward or has the system weakened further? Are we on the 'right' side of education?

As I write this article, I am amidst a case where a single school has violated the Right to Education of its entire strength of students. The school has failed to achieve the minimum standards set by the RTE Act and other regulatory authorities. While students, parents and teachers have been complaining about the stress and pressure they are facing in academics as well as the overall wellbeing of their children, neither parties were able to trace this behaviour to the violation of their Right to Education. From compromising on the minimum hours of instruction to functioning in an autocratic manner, the school leadership took advantage of the students, parents and teachers' ignorance and vulnerability. While I wait for the authorities to conduct their enquiry and bring relief to the students, I thought of sharing simple ways in which we can avoid taking the education of our children for granted and ensure no other party is taking advantage of it either.

1. The bare minimum an individual, professional or education institution can do is be legally compliant. While this school has been defaulting for the last 2 years, it couldn't have been possible if other stakeholders were vigilant and performing their duties properly. It is also negligence on part of the school management, regulatory bodies and the parents that has allowed the School leadership to take advantage and exploit its students.

2. Know your rights and those of your child. Awareness about government and school rules and regulations will help us demand accountability and protect our children better. Prevention is always better than cure. It is also important that we walk the talk before pointing fingers at the institution for defaulting.

3. In case of a violation of a child's rights, there is no justification any stakeholder can give for not seeking justice on behalf of the child. Our fear of its repercussions on the child is only an excuse. The child is already being victimised and ignoring it would make us an equal party to the offence. We need to defend their vulnerability and not reinforce it further.

The Right to Education Act, 2009 is the cornerstone for education in our country. It starts here. We cannot achieve best practises like those mentioned in the National Education Policy 2020 if we are in violation of this Act. Schools may claim to provide international standards of education but if they are not compliant with the RTE, they are doing injustice to their students. The RTE rules standardises education and is meant to create a level playing field for all children irrespective of the board. Education boards offer different pedagogies that will only add value if the school is in compliance with the minimum standards. Please refer to the RTE guide for Parents below or click here.

A violation of the Right to Education of a child may lead to:

1. Discrimination: Only some children or a sub-set of children may benefit from the education provided. Others may be deprived of certain resources on the grounds of age, gender, social status, religion etc for the benefit of another group of students. When there is not enough time or resources for all students, discrimination is rampant in a school environment.

   
   

2. Exploitation: When the expectations from the child to perform is more than the input provided to the child we call it exploitation in education. The school may not achieve the required hours of instruction or educational input but it may expect their students to perform as per standards of other schools that are compliant. A child being unable to enjoy rest, leisure, nutrition, playtime and sleep due to unreasonable academic pressure is also a form of exploitation.

   
   

3. Abuse: Any physical, emotional or mental stress the child may undergo due to a compromise in the educational input accounts to abuse. Anxiety, bullying, anger tantrums, corporal punishment, suicide are either the cause or effect of abuse by an RTE violation. When a school is not compliant its value system crumbles and its impact is felt in some way or the other by all parties within the institution.

When all stakeholders collaboratively work together, with or without a 'law', in the best interest of the child, education can never fail. As they say, progress is not when society follows the letter of the law but when it lives by the spirit of the law.

-Pallavi Lotlikar

For more information on the RTE and related information, please visit here.